The top elected officials of Platte and Clay counties have joined to criticize a proposal made last week by Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas.
On Tuesday, April 16, Lucas posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) that “All are welcome in Kansas City. Proud to work with my fellow mayors like @MikeJohnstoneCO and @NYCMayor as we work to ensure decompression of newly arriving communities and collaboration among cities, labor, non-profits and federal officials.” He also posted a link to a Bloomberg article, which stated he was working with fellow mayors to potentially bring migrant workers to Kansas City.
In that article, it states $1 million will be set aside in next year’s city budget for short-term housing, health care and job training for refugees and migrants.
“What we’re saying is if you have gone through that work, you have worked with homeland security and you are lawfully present here in the United States, then you know what, we want to welcome you and make sure there’s a way you can find work in our community,” Lucas said in the article.
Platte County Presiding Commissioner Scott Fricker and Clay County Presiding Commissioner Jerry Nolte issued a statement in opposition to this plan on Saturday, April 20. In it, they “call on Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas to withdraw his offer of jobs and taxpayer-funded services to illegal immigrants from New York and other sanctuary cities,” stating the actions appear to violate Missouri law.
“We further call on the mayor to advance (Platte County) Councilman Nathan Willett’s Resolution 240412 out of committee for a vote this month by the full Council. Resolution 240412,” the commissioners stated. “‘Affirming to the Missouri State Legislature that Kansas City will not become a sanctuary city for undocumented immigrants,’ is an important resolution that we hope will be supported by the mayor and by all Kansas City council members.”
Fricker and Nolte wrote that, “as commissioners of counties that include significant portions of Kansas City, we are concerned that this misguided policy would violate Missouri Sanctuary City Law, possibly resulting in the loss of state funding currently contained in the proposed Missouri state budget. This budget includes millions of dollars in state funding for local law enforcement agencies, the loss of which would compromise the public safety of Kansas City residents living in our counties.
According to the statement, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued a letter to Mayor Lucas dated Thursday, April 18 stating that the mayor is ‘encouraging businesses to become entangled in a fundamentally unlawful program, exposing them to legal liability in the process.’
“We should not import the violence exemplified by undocumented migrants attacking police officers in Times Square and the brutal murder of Laken Hope Riley by an illegal immigrant who was issued a work permit and later released,” Nolte said in the statement. “We are not New York City. Forcing these reckless and likely illegal policies will only increase criminal activity and endanger Northland families.”
According to the statement, “The mayor of New York City puts the cost of their migrant crisis at $12 billion by the summer of 2025. The cost of the mayor’s proposal will not be borne solely by Kansas City, but will be shared by citizens across the metropolitan area who have no say in this policy. A massive influx of migrants will inevitably impact surrounding areas like the Northland and increase the strain on an already serious housing crisis and on services for citizens like law enforcement, education, social services, and health care systems.
“We urge the Mayor of Kansas City and the City Council to take up and pass Resolution 240412. We further urge our delegation to the Missouri Legislature, especially those who serve on budget committees, to be mindful of Missouri Law as it applies to state funding of Sanctuary Cities and the detrimental effect Mayor Lucas’ policies would have on our communities and our families.”